In a world of ever-increasing miniaturization of electronic devices, more and more equipment and/or devices are being designed in portable or hand-held packaging. These devices are transportable and are either free standing and hand-held in conventional use, or are removable from the structure within which the hand-held device is often mounted. Transportable devices include cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and laptops. More recently, with an increase in demand for flexibility in imaging needs for medical and industrial use, fixed X-Ray detectors are being redesigned and being called upon for transportable uses.
Interest in transportable uses of electronic devices, and the decrease in the size and weight of the devices is causing testing equipment as well hand-held devices to be transported and handled more often. Thus, the electronic devices are at a much greater risk for a significant amount of impact or bumping, and from which the devices need to be protected or hardened against.
Typically, accidental drops of transportable devices are of the order of one meter, where the device falls from a table-top, storage shelf or a bed, or while being carried around by hand. Various approaches have been used to make the devices rugged by using absorbing materials, covers, sleeves and carrying cases that protect the devices in case of such drops or from being tipped over. Though a straightforward and simple solution, this approach suffers from four main limitations when applied to certain types of applications. First, the approach of adding a significant amount of absorbing material tends to bulk up the device and defeats the very desire to make them lighter and more portable. Second, these forms of absorbing material can sometimes be inappropriate for certain working environments, such as in the medical field. Third, the use of sleeves or covers can be cumbersome to install and remove, and may also impede the operation of the device. Finally, conventional systems often give no indication of the extent of, if any at all, the severity of the impact event and provide no lasting feedback to the users that they might be frequently inappropriately mishandling the devices.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present application, that there is a need in the art to protect devices against shock from accidental drops, bumping or tipping over without the use of sleeves or covers. There is also a need in the art to provide the end user with information and feedback on the extent, if any at all, of the severity of an impact event. There is also a need in the art to provide the end user with information as to whether or not the impact absorption qualities of the impact absorbing material has yet been permanently altered by any absorption of impact energy.